There are many different types of illegal drugs — from marijuana, to cocaine, all the way up to methamphetamines — and they all carry consequences for their possession. The severity of the punishment differs, taking into account a number of facts — Which drug was the accused in possession of? How much of it were they carrying? Likewise, the simple presence of a drug in someone’s bloodstream does not equal possession. In these cases, an experienced Central Florida Criminal Defense Attorney will be able to advise the person facing charges.

“The most frequent drug case is the case where either the police have stopped somebody in their automobile, or they’ve gone to their home and they’ve seen or found some kind of drugs. Marijuana, while currently way down on the scale of importance, is still illegal. There’s a lot of popular sentiment for the legalization of it. Unless there’s a large quantity of it, it’s treated less severely than other kinds of drugs. You work your way up. Cocaine, much more serious. Heroin, considered more serious than cocaine. So what are the drugs du jour? Actually, there are two.

One is methamphetamines. Terrible drug. It will absolutely ruin your life if you get on methamphetamines. Don’t do it. Some people do, and we are called upon sometimes to represent them.

What has really become the drug du jour are the opiate analgesics. These include oxycodone, hydrocodone and several other variations on these opiate pain killers. Frequently, these are people who became drug-dependent as the result of an accident. They were legitimately prescribed these drugs, they got hooked on them. When the doctor stopped prescribing them they still felt the need for them. They go out onto the street. There’s a black market available for them. Often, you are just the person who needs them and uses them who gets caught initially. They’ll then leverage your trouble to find out who you bought it from and try to work their way up the stream on that.

Possession of drugs is the least important. Conspiracy to deal in drugs is more serious. Actually selling drugs is more serious than that. Where you sell the drugs makes a difference. If you sell them within 1000 feet of a school, 1000 feet of a church, 1000 feet of a playground, 1000 feet of a housing facility–by housing facility I mean the projects, the publicly supported housing facilities–1000 feet of a minute market. If you sell in those places which are designated as more protected, then the offense is more serious. And obviously, the more you sell and the more you conspire to sell, the more serious the offense.”

Some drug offenses call for “mandatory prison sentences” under Florida’s Criminal Punishment Code. The veritable explosion of the prison systems in the United States is attributable almost exclusively to the number of people imprisoned for drug offenses.

If you are arrested or are being investigated for a drug related offense, immediately contact an experienced criminal defense attorney with The Defense Group at 407-831-1956 or 352-742-9090.